The Sunday News
A WEAVER bird briskly flaps its wings as if executing some traditional African dance. Soon it melts away into some thick canopy of a willow tree. Another bird that looks like a drongo gracefully hovers above the exquisitely built hall that I am about to enter. The morning is cool with some invigorating breeze which from time to time is interrupted by unwelcome wafts of putrid air blowing from the nearby Mazayi stream that is chocking lifeless with effluent from upstream industries and human waste from.
The hall is already jam-packed with primary school pupils, their teachers and adjudicators. Today is the first round in the singing competitions in primary schools. Schools in the Victoria Falls Cluster are gathered at SOS Primary School for the competitions. The chirping and tweeting birds are not part of the competition as they are always cheeping.
Schools present in this cluster, whose head-in-charge is Ms S Khumalo of Hugh Beadle are the following: SOS, Hugh Beadle, Baines, Newmansford, Trenance and Ailsbey which apparently is not taking part.
The schools are competing in three categories namely percussion, choral music and what they term jikinya. Jikinya is a traditional dance competition which is organised by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe in collaboration with Delta Beverages. The competition is run at cluster, district, provincial and national levels. Schools compete in percussion, choral music and jikinya where there is an own choice for each school and the dance which is performed by all schools. This year and next year the national dance is wosana, a rain or fertility dance of the Banyubi and BaKalanga people within the Matobo Hills. In September each year pilgrims go to Njelele Mountain where rain rituals are conducted. Wosana is that dance that pilgrims from various parts of Zimbabwe and beyond perform to the glory of Mwali the rain deity.
There has been some alarm and despondency that a dance that is performed during rain rituals is being performed at wrong times throughout the whole country. “This is a dance for the grannies, ogogo. It should not just be performed any time of year. We are not going to get rains this year,” said an elderly woman from Matobo. We shall deal with this aspect later but for now let’s deal with the competition taking place at SOS Primary School. Schools participating in percussion are ready to dish out their musical offerings. I cannot help observing that all these schools are former Group A schools in the eastern suburbs. That was pretty clear from what I observed.
In the percussion category the lyrics are, without exception, in English. Some uniforms too indicate some Western style. The children and their choir mistresses are immaculately dressed. The African drum has weaved its way into the schools. The instruments that the infants are using show a mixture of African and Western instruments. The gourd or calabash rattle, iwoso has also found its way into the musical ensemble. Cecil John Rhodes must be smiling in his cool solid grave in rock at Malindandzimu to see Western culture being preserved and perpetuated long after independence.
The massed choirs then took centre stage to thrill the audience. There was a piece that was sung by all the participating schools. The chosen piece had some useful messages concerning corruption, nepotism, political violence and laziness; the scourges wreaking havoc in our land. The uniforms were marvelous and attractive. For a moment I heard the weaver bird chirp with gusto as if trying to compete against the choirs. The colours and designs were heart- rending.
Of course I did not come to watch these exotic dances. I am here for the jikinya category where the traditional dances that connect me with my roots are performed. I was to learn later when the adjudicators were making their comments that wild movement by the choir conductors is not encouraged. African performances are, on the other hand, characterised by vivacious and rhythmic and regular movement. This is an issue that some conventional churches are grappling with; to dance or not to dance during church services. Recently, I overheard some people complain animatedly about the new tendency within the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) that it is moving towards the Pentecostal tradition of singing and dancing. In my heart I was laughing heartily as I know it is a matter of time before these churches join in the dance. The same churches are already doing so in South Africa.
Then it was time for the traditional dances, starting with an own piece. The dancers put up spirited performances though it was clear that there is a need for research so that the dances become true cultural expressions. The own pieces were, without exception, all Nguni. It was clear the Nguni culture was not fully comprehended. Isitshikitsha and amantshomane were performed with pupils sporting wrong colours. The leg rattles were worn only on one leg.
Some held the sticks in a manner that showed they did not appreciate that the dance is a martial art which expresses military traditions by men in which women did not participate. This is not to say women don’t take part in isitshikitsha. They do but dress like men. We mention these observations with a view to improving performance not just by schools in the Victoria Falls cluster but schools in other clusters too.
Then came the wosana dance which was the focus of attention by all schools as it is sponsored by Delta Beverages. African drums reverberated with a scintillating rhythm. The all black regalia dominated. The leg rattles symbolised the light showers when it rains. By and large performance was good though once again, there was need for more research and training. It ought not to have been the case as we have written a book on the wosana dance. Teachers did not need to reinvent the wheel. At Amagugu International Heritage Centre we have trained some schools in the wosana dance. In a rather strange and bizarre case the drummers beat the drums while lying down. In yet another weird case the dancers went on their knees to dance. Schools that invest in research and training seem to perform better.
Let me now turn to the fears that the dance should not be performed in schools at the wrong time. Wosana is indeed a ritual and live dance associated with asking for rain in various madaka, the most senior of which is Njelele Rain Shrine at Halale in the Matobo Hills. A ritual has certain related and sequenced activities and officiating personnel associated with it. A dance such as wosana is but a part of a protracted and elaborate sacred ritual. The timing, of both month and time of day is important. Beer is an integral part of the consecrated ritual. Beer is not only consumed by the pilgrims but there is some that is given to Mwali in the cave. There are other gifts that are brought by the pilgrims that are surrendered at the shrine including black cloth, animal skins and dagga. This was the case in days gone by when there were no prohibitions on wildlife and narcotics.
There is spiritual possession by adult dancers who roll on the ground. Mwali is addressed by the appropriate ritual personnel, or spiritual adepts who take the pilgrims’ supplications to Mwali. Each year it is the same officials in charge of the ritual activities. It is the address to Mwali by the officials that matters the most. In a nutshell, the entire ritual process is sacred. In days gone by there was whi, the Voice that thundered from the cavern. Black cattle were slaughtered as sacrifice to Mwali and some of the meat was consumed by the supplicants.
What is happening to the dance when being performed by school pupils is that the dance is being secularised. It has become a social dance in which children are taking part. The ritual is far from being complete to pass as a sacred ritual dance in schools. Pupils do not direct their performances to Mwali nor are children ever participants to a live rain ritual. What the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe is doing is preservation, not of the sacred rain ritual, but the dance which has been secularised through removal from its sacred ritual context. It is a deritualised performance which portrays the culture of the BaKalanga and Banyubi.
A dance expresses the culture in which it is performed. Given the severe onslaught that our traditional culture is facing from Western education and values the dance is a veritable tool in showcasing a people’s culture and gives due attention to cultural diversity. We begin to see intercultural dialogue which is important for tolerance and social cohesion in our nation.
